Fidel Edwards took five wickets before his namesake Kirk stroked a century on debut as the West Indies closed the penultimate day of the third and final Test against India in Dominica 81 runs ahead.

Having dismissed India for 347 replying to their first-innings score of 204, they closed on 224 for six after Edwards and Shivnarine Chanderpaul put on 161 runs for the fourth wicket.

Edwards became the 13th West Indian to register a century on debut, and the first since , as he scored 110 to help the home side into a slender overall lead.

His century came in chaotic circumstances when he was called for a suicidal run by Chanderpaul but a poor throw missed Mahendra Singh Dhoni and he eventually scampered through for the vital run which took him to just his third first-class three-figure score.

It had looked ominous for the West Indies when Barath (6), Kieran Powell (4) and Darren Bravo (14) all departed cheaply but from 40 for three Edwards and the resolute Chanderpaul, unbeaten on 73 in 201 deliveries, took the score to 201 before Edwards was caught by Dhoni off Harbhajan Singh.

Marlon Samuels (0) fell three balls later when he was trapped in front by the same bowler and Praveen Kumar had Carlton Baugh caught by Abhinav Mukund for ten to ensure that although Edwards rightly earned plenty of praise, India remain in control and favourites to wrap up a 2-0 series win on the final day - weather permitting.

They resumed the day on 308 for six but added just 39 runs, Dhoni going on to score 74 before falling to fast bowler Fidel Edwards, who also got rid of Harbhajan Singh (12) and Ishant Sharma (2) to complete his five-wicket haul while Devendra Bishoo had Kumar caught by Samuels for 23.

Day three of the match saw Mukund, VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina all score half-centuries as India moved into a lead and began to assert their control of the match, the opening two days of which were badly hit by rain.

India's 1-0 lead is courtesy of a 63-run win in Jamaica and a draw in Barbados.